Equipment to be used in road construction



Dec. 23, 1952 N. E. PARsoN y EQUIPMENT TO BE USED 1N ROAD CONSTRUCTION 2SHEETS--SHEET l Filed June 9, 1947 INVENTOR. /Vo r ma 72 Q/a 755575077ATTD RN EYB Patented Dec. 23, 1952 YUNITED STATES EQUIPMENT` TO BE USED`IN-ROAD CONSTRUCTION This invention relates to equipment adapted for usein road'construction, and more particularly to a materialv distributorand spreader.

In construction of roads, materials such as gravel, crushed or brokenstone, asphalt or the likev is spread on the road by a truck inseparated piles andk the material isk spread from the piles by workmen.

It is an object of this invention, therefore, to provide equipment ofthis character which comprises a hopper body into which the truckdischarges the material, mountingA the body on Wheels and. connectingitto the truck so that as the truck moves forward, the material isdischarged through the hopper bottom.

Another object of the invention is to provide equipment of thischaracter having pivoted discharge gates. thereon which will control theamount of material distributed asthe device is towed forward by thetruck to which it is connected.

Another object of the invention is to provide equipment of thischaracter which is simple in construction and operation, durable and canbe inexpensively manufactured.

With the above and other objects and advantages in View, the inventionconsists of the novel details of construction, arrangementandcombination of parts more fully hereinafter described, claimed andillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 Vis a rear elevational view of an embodiment of the invention;

' Figure 2 lis a front elevational view thereof;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view thereof; Figurefi isa top plan viewpartly in section;

`Figure 5,is` a detailed view of the discharge gatesy or blades with thebody broken away to more clearly show the blades;

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the truck hitch with a fragmentarysection of a truck shown in conjunction therewith;

Figure 7 is an end view of the truck hitch in position on a truck.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral Il)designates the hopper body having a solid front wall II having inclinedend edges I2 and a rear wall I3 having an inverted V cut I4 with ytheapex thereof located at the center of the wall I3. The end edges of thewall I3 are inclined at I5 to conform to the inclination of the endedges of the wall I'I, and the side walls I6 are secured by welding orthe like to the end edges of the front and rear walls. The hopper I hasan open bottom and open top, and the hopperis supported by the parallellongitudinal extending side I beams II which are secured to the upperlongitudinal edges of the side walls I8 and the transverse L-beams I8which are secured to the upper longitudinal edges of Ithe front and rearwalls I l and I3 respectively.

At the forward end of each of the I beams I'I, a fork I8' is securedthereto by welding or the like, and the forks, at their lower ends, eachjournal an axle I9 by Vmeans of the open slot 20 of the wheels 2I, Abrace 22 is secured to each fork and to the forward ends of theV I beamsI'I by weldingl or the like, as shown: in Figure 2.

The rear end of each I beam I'I is provided with a bearing 23 in whichis journalled the axle 24 of the fork 25 for the caster wheels 26, theaxle 21 of which is journalled in the open slots 28 in the fork 25.

A tie rod 29 is connected at its opposi-te ends at 30 to each casterwheel fork 25, and a lever 3l, which may be placed on the left or rightcaster wheel, is used to steer the caster wheels around a` curve, andbraces 23' secured to the beam II and beams I to further strengthen thebeams to prevent twisting thereof.

The hopper, at the bottomvedge of the side walls, is provided withparallel skids 32 of conventional form, and braces 33 are secured to therear ends of the skids, and to the rear wall of the hopper I'IJ. Y

Secured to the front Wall II, transversely thereof, is the upperL-shaped beam 34, and the lower L-shaped beam 35, and parallelv L-shaped beams 36 are connected at their opposite ends to the beams 34 and35 in spaced relation to each other. c

The beams 36 journal a shaft 31 therein, which extends outwardly of thehopper at one side thereof to have the lever 38 secured thereto at theouter end thereof.

This lever coacts with the segment 39 secured to one side of the hopperand an opening 4U in the lever when it coincides with one of theopenings 4I in the segment, will receive a bolt 42 or the like, toretain the lever in fixed relation to the segment.

The lever controls the rotation of the shaft 31 on which, at the centerthereof, intermediate the bars 36, is xed the tow hook 43, which isadapted to engage the truck to which the hopper is connected for thetowing thereof.

Braces 44 connected to the hook 43 and shaft 31 further strengthen thehook 43 t0 prevent breakage thereof. It will also be noted that L- beams45 are connected to the side walls with the end welded to the oppositeends of the bar 34, and then inclined upwardly toward the top of therear wall I3.

Pivoted at 46 and 46 on the rear wall I3 are the distributing gates 41and 41' respectively, Which are shaped to conform to a segment of acircle, and are adapted to overlap each other rearwardly of the wall I3at the inverted V I4.

Each gate has the lower end of a link 48 connected thereto at 49, whilethe upper end of the link is connected at 59 to the traveling nut 5I onthe screw 52. The screw 52 is journalled at its lower end in the L bar53 secured to the beam I8, and the upper end journalled in the L-shapedbar 54 which is supported in an elevated position above the bar 53 bythe inclined L-shaped bars 55 and 55. A hand crank 56, on the upper endof the screw 52, controls the rotation of the screw, and the subsequentraising and lowering of the gates on their pivot points 46 and 4G.

The gates underlie the V I4 and curved grooves 51, 58 and 59 in gate 41engage the indentations 65, 5I and 62 in the rear wall I3 to provideguides and guideways for the gate 41 while grooves 51', 58 and 59 ingate 41 engage the indentations 59', 6I and 62 in the rear wall I3 forthe same purpose. The grooves or guideways are equally spaced andcontoured to be concentric with the pivot points 46 and 46 respectively.

A housing 63 secured to the rear wall I 3 covers the upper ends of thegates 41 and 41' when they are completely moved out of alinement withthe V cut I4. Open slots S4 and 54 in the wall I3, at the edges of theout, permit the pivots 49 to enter so the gates can completely clear theV cut I4.

For connection of the hook 43 to a truck B5, hanger plates S6 aresecured to the frame 91 of the truck by the plates S8 and bolts 69, andthe hanger plates 69 carry a bar 1] with which the hook 43 engages forthe towing of the hopper.

The operation of the equipment is simple. It is connected by the hook 43to the bar 19 on the truck 65 so that when the body 1I of the truck iselevated into dumping position, the contents thereof will be dischargedinto the hopper I0. As the contents are being discharged, then the truckmoves forward, towing the hopper and depositing the material in a pileof material on the road in the shape of an inverted V. The material isstrung out in a line until the truck is completely empty, at which timethe truck is disconnected and another truck is connected thereto.

The overall circumference of the pile is deter- 4 The truck proceedsalong the road to have the material deposited thereon as desired by theroad crew, in the amount needed, and then the material can be placed ordistributed on the road as desired.

During some types of road construction it has been found advisable toremove the axles I9 from the slots 20 and the axle 21 from the slots 28to permit the device to rest and be moved on the skids 32. Thusregardless of the condition of the road or the terrain over which theroad is being constructed the device can be moved by either the use ofthe wheels 2| and 26 or the skids 32.

There has thus been provided a piece of equipment which, it is believed,will accomplish the objects of the invention, and it is believed thatthe construction and operation thereof will be apparent to those skilledin the art.

It is to be understood that changes in the minor details ofconstruction, arrangement and combination of parts may be resorted to,provided they fall within the spirit of the invention and the scope ofthe appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

A road material spreader comprising a hopper having an open top, an openbottom and solid side, front and rear walls, a frame supporting saidhopper, wheels on the front and rear of said frame, skids mounted on thelower side Walls in alignment therewith, an inverted V-shaped dischargeopening in the rear wall, a pair of overlapping gates pivotally mountedadjacent the lower portion of the opening on the rear wall of saidhopper parallel to and abutting said rear wall, each of said gates beingshaped in the form of a segment of a circle, said gates adapted toextend over said discharge opening for controlling the size of saidopening and manually operated means mounted on said frame and connectedto both of said gates for operating the gates simultaneously.

NORIWAN EDGAR PARSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,034,074 Cannell July 30, 19121,401,149 Foster Dec. 27, 1921 1,816,869 Protzeller Aug. 4, 19311,939,909 McCombs Dec. 19, 1933 2,054,436 Mosel Sept, 15, 1936 2,055,974Greiner Sept. 29, 1936 2,195,015 chwart Mar. 26, 1940 2,403,820 MillerJuly 9, 1946

